Ripples in the Stream
A D&D / Shadowrun / Mass Effect crossover
by Vyrexuviel
Disclaimer: The author of this story does not, in any way, derive any profit from the story. D&D, Shadowrun and Mass Effect are the property of their respective copyright holders. Jorukaia and other unfamiliar characters in this story, however, are mine.
[AN]
I don't normally do Author's Notes, but I recieved two annonymous reviews today that I want to address:
To the anonymous reviewer who left a comment about this being a depressing bash fic, you clearly did not read very far. Don't be so quick to judge a story by it's initial chapters. This is a slow-burn fic, and your concerns were already addressed in later chapters. Udina's attempt to cover up a first-contact situation -will- have consequences, though they will be slow in coming. The gears of the Council's Justice grind slowly, but exceedingly fine.
As to where the Diplomats are, they're scrabbling to catch up with someone who isn't slowing down to talk to them. Jorkaia has shit to get done yesterday, and no time to talk until the situation with is handled. And why she doesn't just transform, where would she -fit-?! She's big enough to maybe fit inside a warehouse, if she lays down and scrunches up. Since the consequences of transforming into a full-sized dragon in a too-small area would be rather catestrophic, she hasn't bothered going full dragon. Besides, she was born to a drow mother, so she's only half-dragon.
If you were expecting this to be a "Dragon wreck shit" fic, you're sorely mistaken, and should probably find something else to read. This fic is a slow burn. Things get set up that won't get resolved for a dozen or more chapters. I've already set in place things that won't get resolved until the very end of the fic.
Anyway, now on to the story!
[/AN]
"You were in the middle of a war-zone and after that you were speaking with my parents, so I restrained my curiosity. But now your time is undisturbed, so I will finally ask... what are you?"
Her childhood home looked out over the graceful spires of Armali, out to sea and the setting sun. She'd always loved watching the sunset, wondering what mysteries night would bring for her to unravel Now, the mystery had come to visit her here, after the long, harrowing journey.
Things were much unchanged, the same picture-frame holding the last set of pictures she'd taken with her Mother, before heading off to the University of Serrice. The same bed, with the same patterned bedspread. Even her old toy-chest, without even a layer of dust to mark the passing of decades, stood in the corner.
The figure of blazing, molten fire, concealed behind swirls of black smoke and sulfurous ash, with plates of obsidian-black armor slowly moving about her, turned to give a chuckle at the insubstantial question. "I am what I am, Liara. I am Darastrix. A being of fire and darkness, as you no doubt can see."
"I see more about your being than you may realize. Where did you come from? You're not of these stars, this realm." She wasn't sure how she knew that just by gazing at the ever-changing display of volcanic fire, but she was. She drifted away from the window, circling as the avatar of molten fury shifted in her direction. She wasn't sure if touching it would hurt her, if she even could be hurt, but she didn't want to find out.
"Truth, though limited in scope." The voice was a mingled volcanic roar, a subterranean rumble, the spitting hiss of high-pressure steam. "I am not from this universe, and have seen many worlds in my time. I was born a slave on the world of Aber-Toril, under no sun of this galaxy."
Even in death, even with the burning rage she felt for the one who destroyed her, Liara T'Soni could never lose the passion she followed in life. A species from another galaxy... a thousand different questions and prospects raced through her. "Aber-Toril? Is that your people's capital? Is it in the Andromeda galaxy? How old is your race? What is your government like? Are all of them warriors like you? Are there other space-faring races in your galaxy? How many of your people are here? How did you manage to come here? What's your form of FTL travel? Do you use Element Zero? Why is that human attracted to you? Does your reproductive system work with other females? Why are you laughing at me!"
The laughter of the fiery avatar died away as she turned, though Liara couldn't really see a 'face' amidst that molten shining fire. "So many questions you have, but we have little time to speak right now. The ritual draws near, and if it succeeds..."
The figure of fire came closer, making the ghostly asari draw back instinctively. She halted, then raised a hand in a placating gesture. "If it succeeds, then we shall have long and heart-felt conversation, you and I. And if it fails... There shall be no more questions to answer. Do you understand?"
"No, I most certainly do not!" With great effort, Liara swallowed her more academic questions for more pertinent matters. "What ritual? What are you talking about? More importantly, how are you even able to see me?"
The hand was lowered, though the burning figure didn't turn away. "Let me answer those in reverse order. I can see you because I exist in both the physical realm, and that of the astral, at the same time. I can shift my sight from one to the other at will. Right now, I see the world as you do, shadowy and indistinct, but it allows me to see that which is hidden from merely mortal sight."
She began to pace, a streamer of fire blazing behind her as she did. "As to the ritual... I have been researching Athamite religion. Tonight is the Syurinach, the time when the wall between worlds is at its thinnest. When midnight strikes, and the veil fades to transparent thinness, I shall call, and bring you back, to the living side of the veil."
The asari turned as quiet as the ghost that she was. Now Liara T'Soni had but one single question. "...What?"
"Death...is not a permanent state of being. I have crossed that threshold twice, and returned to the living each time." The blazing 'face' turned towards her, the twin trails of fire above it seeming to intensify. "It is a well-understood phenomena, made simpler by your presence here. I will not need to search the multiverse for your soul, nor entreat whatever deity had claimed you for your release. All that is required, is your cooperation."
The obsidian-shrouded flame of her hand raised once more. "But this ritual is not without risk, to you and to me. It takes a great deal of metaphysical power to draw that which is dead back to the realm of the living, and depending on how strong the soul is that is being so drawn...it might shatter. The risk is low, but not insignificant. I want to make you aware of that before we proceed. You might not survive, even as a ghost. Do you still wish to try?"
"I... I..." Liara stared at the blazing avatar as if she were a more incomprehensible mystery than the Protheans. The fear, the anguish, the rage she had felt that drove her to the bitter end.. it wasn't a release, as they had taught her in school. No release, only the tightening of shackles, the feeling of being...eroded, if she didn't constantly maintain herself. She understood the meaning and power of death more than ever now. It was all encompassing, it was inevitable and inescapable. And now this creature claimed she could undo its grasp on Liara and restore her back to life? "Why? Why me? Why am I so special?"
"Because... You were never meant to die." The figure's head shook slightly and she turned away. "Never, not once, in all the unseen paths of the future I glimpsed, did I ever see your death. That was as much unforeseen as my own arrival What happened to you...was my fault."
"What do you mean... yours?" Liara had never felt so still.
"It will take a great deal of time to explain it all. Suffice it to say, I...arrived, to fulfill a dead woman's destiny." The blazing figure turned, staring out through the open window. "In that I...have not yet succeeded. Among the many things she was to do, rescuing you from the geth before Saren reached you, was one of them."
She turned, the banner of fire behind her swaying and snapping with anger. "You were never supposed to die. You weren't even supposed to be captured. And now... Now, I can no longer trust the visions of the future. Too much has changed, and what I saw has already broken. I am sorry, Liara. I dallied, I dawdled, and you died as a result. I cannot forget that burden of guilt, even if your mother blames Saren, not me."
A long silence engulfed the room. Even cemeteries would be envious of the silence.
Then, a web of cracks slowly began to spread across the glass windows and the bedroom walls, stretching all over like a growing spiderweb. "You... you knew? You had forewarning that I was in danger?"
"Yes." The admission was a simple affirmative The woman seemed to either not notice, or expect the sudden shattering of the window. "For lack of better terminology, I was outside time. I saw time, as another dimension one could look. For a brief...time, though that has no real meaning where I was, I could see history unfurl beneath me. I could see the past, I could see the present. And I could see the future. But only briefly, and never in enough detail."
"But you knew." Liara snarled with the growing rage of a vengeful ghost. "You knew who I was, where I was...and what was coming for me. You knew, and you say that you did nothing?!"
"Hardly nothing." The words whipped across the space, as bed, toybox, dresser, and other furniture began to tremble. Distant sounds of breaking could be heard through the closed door. "First, I had to find you. I had no access to the information I needed, and...when I first arrived, I was incarcerated. Even as you were. I..."
She paused, sighed, and turned aside. The fires of that flaming avatar seemed to dim as she turned away again. "No excuses. I made a mistake, and that cost me. I was discovered prematurely, and placed in supermax prison, rather than aboard the ship that would rescue you. I had to make my own way to you, and that took time. I had to find references, to find your image. I cannot jump across the stars blindly, Liara, even I have my limitations."
The swirling tempest of otherworldly power continued to whip around Liara, threatening to erupt and destroy the entire house she once called home. And still, Joru gave no reaction or care, knowing she deserved it.
And yet, the tempest slowly began to calm and abate. Then it dissipated altogether. Liara's ghost took a deep, slow breath. "Are you a goddess?"
The figure had no face she could see, just a mass of flame as it turned towards her. Even so, she got the impression it was smiling. "No. Though I have met beings that could claim that title."
"Then I cannot expect you to be one." Liara finally unclenched her fists as her usual form of reason reasserted itself. "Perhaps you had more warning, but I cannot fairly expect you to be immune to any hindrances and able to thwart any disaster with impunity as though you were a goddess. If my mother and her fellow matriarchs, the most powerful beings in the galaxy, could not stop this, then how could you?"
The figure regarded her impassively for a moment before turning to the shattered window and stepping delicately through out onto the private balcony. "You are wise beyond your years, Liara. Perhaps it is different among asari, but I find those so young tend to have their simple wisdom overlooked. If a child can see the truth of something, what does that say of the wisdom of her elders?"
"That the child was well raised by her elders." The ghost floated forwards, the shattered glass shards stirring beneath her as she passed through the window. "I understand, Joru. You are not to blame for what has happened to me. I know who is truly responsible, for your aid would not have been needed if Saren had not targeted me."
The air around her dropped in temperature. The fiery avatar beside her seemed to steam beneath the cold rage she radiated. "He is the one who did this to me. Abducted me. Tortured me. Experimented on my body! And then he destroyed me! He took everything from me!"
And then the rage was spent. No, not spent, tucked away again. She hadn't realized she could do that. "And when he took everything from me, I took the one thing I had that he couldn't take."
The fiery figure seemed to nod. "Your insight serves you well. I am glad to have met you, though saddled by the manner of our meeting."
"If all goes to plan," she murmured, turning to stare in the direction of the fading sunset, "then soon we shall meet face to face."
The communications room had been quite packed when Shala'Raan visited there on her rounds. She might be Admiral, chosen for this honor, but she still felt the need to survey her ship from time to time.
Old habits die hard, and Raans had been Captains for a long time.
"Message for you, Admiral. Live commlink." The tech looked up at her as she passed, making her blink in surprise.
"Who from? One of the other admirals?" Not Daro, the scientifically-minded admiral was probably buried in her research. Han'Gerrel...if it was him, she pondered outright refusing, but no, she couldn't do that. He might actually have something to say that would be worth the expenditure of energy for once. Zaal'Koris, ugh, she hoped it wasn't him, just...no. Not right now.
"The confirmation code is still processing, but it's an old Zorah code."
Rael? Shala blinked again. Rael was quite annoyingly persistent about certain topics, but he'd been quiet of late. His daughter had gone off on Pilgrimage a year ago, and he'd been as anxious as she'd ever seen him since.
"I'll take it in my office." If this was about his daughter, Raan wanted it to remain private. Rael may be many things, but he wasn't always discrete enough for an admiral.
The tech nodded to her as she slipped past him in the crowded room, "Aye-aye, ma'am."
Her office was a cramped room, like every other room aboard. The left wall as she stepped in was original equipment, but everything else was added in at various stages. Her desk was a slab of metal extruding from the wall, braced at one end, and with her terminal built into it. She ran a finger along the edge, feeling the slight dent where she'd...
She sat, adjusting her skirt slightly and tapped on her terminal, checking through the usual updates as the techs routed the call. She gave a faint nod as the notification popped up and started the call.
"This is Admiral Shala'Raan."
"Auntie!"
"Tali! I hadn't expected to hear from you until you had completed your pilgrimage!" She couldn't help but smile, hearing that voice, but immediately leaned forward. "Are you in trouble?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Well, now." The hooded quarian held up a hand as Raan's eyes widened. "I got into some...bad stuff about two months ago, but I'm out of it now."
"What?! What kind of trouble, Tali? What have you found yourself in out there?" Raan cared for dear Tali with all her heart as if she were her own child.
The Pilgrimage was the tradition that displayed a quarian's growth in maturity as an adult. It was a proof of their merit and capability, but not all quarians made it back. And as a member of the Zorah family, the expectations placed upon poor Tali were monumental, as well as those she placed upon herself. It could take years for her to find something 'worthy' as a Pilgrimage gift, and with the galactic prejudice against quarians and now the return of the Geth themselves, Raan was fraught with anxiety about-
"I...ran into some geth."
Raan's whirling mind halted so fast she momentarily felt dizzy. "What?"
"Just that, Auntie. I ran into some geth. Outside the Veil." Tali's eyes were narrow, though if from anger or a smile, it was difficult to tell. "I used some of those tricks you taught me back in school. I had some help, but...they're out here, Auntie. I wanted to make sure you knew."
"I... I appreciate the gesture, Tali, but how could we not already know about the Geth?" Raan ran a worried hand over her helmet.
"Even without their attacks being all over the news, the Turians were quick to send several angry messages demanding to know if we had anything to do with their return. Some are even blaming us for it all, claiming that we clearly violated our treaty by meddling with Geth borders. It took two weeks of negotiation and plenty of forwarded navigational data to convince them we were not involved."
That was clearly a wince and Tali retreated slightly from the camera pickup. "Sorry about that, Auntie. But, um... Well, I've kinda been busy fighting them to stop and ask who knew about them."
"Fighting them? Oh, Tali. You are truly one of the brightest people I've ever seen in our fleet." Raan sighed. "But the Geth? This is the first questionable decision I've ever heard from you!"
"They didn't exactly give me a choice." Tali sounded mulish, like the times she had to be given medicine as a child, especially after the accident. "A Spectre got involved, and took me along as technical assistance."
This news did nothing to help Raan's heart calm down. "A Council Spectre, Tali? Who? How?!"
"Ummmm..." That same endearing sound had presaged many confessions. "Well, first, there was Saren, you know him? Arterius? The one the Council expelled?"
"The one who we kept reminding the Turians was actually leading the Geth."
"Yeah, him. Well, I finally found proof." Tali was definitely smiling, though it was difficult to see. "I was going through the data I retrieved from a geth chassis when I stumbled across a recording. Apparently I was..a bit too free with what I had. He found out..."
"Tali, are you telling me you were targeted by a professional killer who was dangerous even amongst the Spectres? You are not helping my nerves at all."
"Right now, he has bigger things to worry about." Yes, she was definitely smiling now. "I exposed what he was doing to the Council. Then another Spectre recruited me to help hunt him down. And then we wrecked his base."
Shala'Raan could only stare in stunned silence. Exposed Saren Arterius to the Council? Destroyed his base? This was her little Tali'Zorah nar Raaya she was talking to, right? Not some other adorable girl on her Pilgrimage?
Tali was still talking, but she'd missed a bit. "-took us a while, and Jorukaia was quite pleased with our work."
Raan's shoulders finally slouched as she leaned back in her chair, running her fingers over her visor again. "You are truly your Rael's daughter after all, Tali. Finding trouble and then accomplishing insane yet incredible victories. Both Han'Gerrel and your father will be so proud."
"...Auntie." Tali's voice was choked slightly, and she squirmed a little in that endearing way she had. Raan felt her heart melt once again at the sight.
Then something the girl said caught up to her. "Wait a minute, Tali. Did you say 'Jorukaia'? Isn't that the name of the female representing that new race?"
"Um, kinda." The girl's squirm was a different sort now. The one she used when she needed to conceal something. It pained Raan's heart that only she knew the difference, now.
Tali shot her a frank look, or at least as frank as she could with the helmet in the way. "There's...a lot I can't talk about."
"What is that supposed to mean? Tali, are you with her? Tell me she's not doing anything to you!"
"What?!" Tali started shaking her head frantically and waving her hands. "No, no, nothing like that! Just... I've been with her on a few missions and... Well, there's a Spectre involved. I honestly don't know what I can talk about.."
"Alright, you meant that certain details are classified." Raan slumped in relief. As an Admiral of the Flotilla, she understood the necessity for secrecy and need-to-know in delicate matters. "So long as they're against the Geth and nothing against the Quarian fleet, I have no reason to worry in that regard. In the meantime, what can you tell me about this representative Joru? What is she like?"
"Jorukaiazhanivahkyss," Tali only stumbled a little over the odd name, Shala noticed, "is very particular about her name. If you've earned her respect, she'll let you shorten it to 'Jorukaia'. If you earn her friendship, you can call her 'Joru'."
Tali squirmed again, making Raan smile faintly. "She's... Well, she's... She's different. Very different."
Raan picked up on a hidden meaning in the young woman's words. "And how do you know that only her friends may call her that, Tali? Does she count you as a friend?"
"...kinda?" And that adorable shuffle again. "She told me to call her Joru..."
The sagely admiral let out a long sigh, trying to keep her growing sense of giddy hysteria buried. "You exposed the turian leader of the Geth's return, assisted in destroying their base, and you've managed to become a respected friend to the representative of a new race. Each one of those is more unprecedented than the last, Tali! You've not only struck a blow against the Geth, but ensured that a new species will not be blinded by prejudice against the quarian race! This is beyond extraordinary!"
The shine in Tali's eyes was brighter than any time Shala had seen...no, not quite. Tali's eyes had shone like that, back before the accident. "Thank you Auntie! B-But... That's not the only reason I'm calling."
"... You mean there's more?" Raan blinked in astonishment. Tali had already done more than enough to justify her return to the fleet as a successful Pilgrimage, and now there was more?!
"I sent a drone courier to the fleet, Auntie. Authorization code..." There was an exchange of data, and Raan confirmed it on her end. "It should be with the fleet in a day or two. I sent it on a max-speed run, because the data it carries is vital to the fleet."
Raan leaned closer, feeling the conversation shifting to admiral business. "What kind of data? How high priority is is this? Is this... is it your Pilgrimage gift?"
"I...don't really know how high a priority it would be, Auntie, but..." Tali gave a sigh and looked at her left arm. "...That's up to you. The data is a complete cybernetics database from... from Jorukaia. As a gift. She..."
Tali swallowed and looked back into the camera, her eyes shining. "She says that with some adjustment and re-design to use Quarian nervous systems, we could design our own long-lasting, and fully neurally-linked cybernetic prosthetics!"
"I... I would be able to feel again, Auntie... O-Once the differences between quarian and human neural architecture are worked out." The young quarian was almost rocking in her chair, as she stared hard into her admiral's eyes, a quarter of a galaxy away.
...
"A-Auntie? Did the connection drop?" Tali busied herself with her end, looking concernedly at the motionless admiral.
Admiral Shala'Raan suddenly jolted and shook her head. "I-I-I'm sorry, Tali. But did you say neural-linked cybernetics?" She had to struggle to contain her excitement.
"Y-Yes, Auntie. I don't know cybernetic medicine too well, not to that level, but from what I could understand, and what Jorukaia described, it links directly into the nervous system!"
She hesitated before adding, a bit more cautiously. "There were even some designs in there for direct neural interfaces. A-Allowing someone to link their mind directly to a computer..."
"Tali! Tali, please..." Raan held up her hands. "That's enough. I'll... I'll speak with your father and the other Admirals. We'll make sure the Flotilla doesn't perform any jumps so that we may receive the drone. But what about you? If this is your Pilgrimage gift, then where will you be? Won't you return?"
"I... n-no, not yet, Auntie." Tali had been mischievous She'd been contrite, and contrary. She'd been embarrassed, mortified, sad, happy, and many other things, which Shala had considered herself privileged to see.
She had never seen Tali this serious before.
"I..have to stay. For now. I will be home, Auntie, but I thought this data too important to wait for me. I... Jorukaia needs me, Auntie. I have to stay. For now..."
"But Tali! Haven't you done enough?" Shala'Raan protested. "You've already proven yourself more than anyone could have ever imagined! Why would you need to keep risking your life out there? If this data is truly so valuable, as well as your recent accomplishments, then you would be welcomed with open arms! You'll have your own choice of whatever ship to serve on!"
She cut herself off as she caught the look in Tali's eyes. She'd seen that look there only once before, shortly after the poor girl had woken up after the accident. "There's a war coming, Auntie. N-Not just with the Geth. I have to help here, where I can... I-It's for the good of the Fleet, Auntie."
"...a war!? What do you...oh forget it, I can't take any more today." Raan sighed and buried her visor in her hands. "I understand, this is something you just have to see through to the end. You are indeed Rael's daughter, Tali. And perhaps a little bit of Han'Gerrel's influence as well. I know they will be proud of you. Just promise you're be careful and that you'll keep in touch."
"Don't worry about that, Auntie." The girl was blushing for some reason, but Raan couldn't tell why. "Jorukaia's already promised to t-take care of me."
"She treats you well then?"
"Oh yes!" Tali animatedly recounted how the woman found a boiling-hot shower for her, after her stint on that horrid ice-ball Noveria. Why humans bothered to colonize the hideous ice-covered rock was beyond her, but Shala was almost giggling at the way Tali talked about how kind and generous Jorukaia was. Even without having met her, Shala was grateful to the woman, for taking care of her niece.
"It seems you found true friends after all out there. A truly valuable prize indeed." Shala'Raan smiled. "I wish you good luck on your mission Tali'Zorah. And remember, no matter how dark it gets, the Fleet is always with you. Keelah se'lai."
"Keelah se'lai, Auntie. And I'll see you soon." Tali's gleaming eyes were the last to vanish from the hologram, leaving Shala alone again in her tiny, cramped office.
The admiral sighed once again before reaching into desk drawer to pull out a bottle of triple-filtered turian brandy. She needed a drink or two after so many successive surprises from dear little Tali.
Now where did she put that emergency induction port?
"Matriarch Benezia, it is good to see you." High Priestess Jan'shiri gave a soft, genuine smile, a smile that faltered slightly as her eyes roved over the party that had accompanied the Matriarch.
A pair of commandos flanked the Matriarch, but it was the sight of Matriarch Aethyta that made the priestess blink. She never forgot her manners, however, ushering the group into the antechamber of the Grand Temple of Athame. "Please, please, come in, it is a cold night, and my hearth is warm."
It was a traditional nightly greeting, and both Matriarchs murmured their traditional thanks, "It is good of you to share the warmth of your fire, High Priestess."
"Please, tonight, I am Jan'shiri." She gave a soft smile, taking Benezia's hand in her own. While not as old as the older of the two matriarchs, Jan'shiri was herself a Matriarch, having served Athame for longer than half a millennium
"Then I thank you for your hospitality, Jan'shiri."
The voice startled her so much she almost crushed Benezia's hand, whipping her head around to stare first at the chest, then up into the glowing eyes of the Darastrixi Ambassador. "We do not have much time. Where is the altar?"
Her mind whited out a moment, as she glanced in confusion to Benezia, who gave her a regal nod. "She is with us tonight. Please forgive any insult she may offer, for she does not know our ways."
The overly-tall woman gave an amused snort, but allowed Benezia to take command of the conversation. She wore a bulky overcoat that swept down to her ankles, thick and largely unadorned, but trimmed with some sort of dark-grey fur at hem, sleeves and shoulders.
"Matriarch T'Soni, I understand Matriarch Aethyta's presence as dear Liara's other parent, but you still wished for this to be a strictly private event. May I ask why you invited an outsider when you did not invite friends or other family?"
Benezia gave a slight nod to Aethyta, who moved off with Jorukaia, discussing things in low tones. "I am not certain how much you are aware of, in regards of my personal friend and guest?"
The tone was unmistakable: a gentle warning not to malign the outsider.
As with many asari, the priestess was silent for nearly a minute as she considered and weighed the many potential reasons why the Matriarch would broach such a topic. She brought the Darastrix here for a reason, and the priestess smiled thinly as she realized there was more to this than merely offering ceremonial words for the departed daughter of Thessia.
"She has made quite a stir with announcing the presence of her people, demonstrating inherent abilities and tools never seen before. She also contributed extensively to exposing the Batarian Hegemony's war crimes, and even made a cleverly disguised political statement through a Fornax interview."
"Quite." Benezia's own smile was tight-lipped. "Esoteric abilities are something of her specialty. You know the significance of this night in Athamite lore better than I do."
High Priestess Jan'shiri narrowed her eyes in thought as she ushered the three to the main chamber. "I bid you welcome to the Temple of Athame. Here, we reflect on our long wisdom and the memories of our lives both sweet and bitter."
The chamber was massive. Easily fifty meters from end to end, and thirty from side to side. The central altar was waist high, a massive slab of marble, quarried and carved more than a hundred centuries ago by long-nameless artisans from the ancient home of Athame. It was brought to this place, to be the centerpiece of Her church, but this altar had been at the site of the original church, now long since destroyed in ancient wars.
Like Athame, the church may fall, the priestesses dwindle, but the foundation endures.
The lean, lithe alien strode past her, gazing around the high, vaulted chamber, reaching its apex a good twenty meters overhead. She seemed to nod in approval, her tail swaying slowly behind her as she paced quietly towards the raised altar. "And this is the center of your religion?"
"Indeed, Ambassador. While some daughters of Thessia find comfort in other religions, the teachings of the Goddess Athame still remains the most ancient and prominent." Jan'shiri gave a soft, proud smile, though tinged with a tiny bit of wistfulness.
Not in her lifetime had this hall been packed to capacity, or even half-full. Designed in the heyday of the Athamite religion, it regularly saw services attended by thousands.
Now, she'd be lucky if she got a hundred for one of the main holy days.
"It's certainly spacious enough." The darastrix mounted the dais at the center of the temple, gazing upwards. "Is that an occulus? Perfect, even better."
The pierced central dome of the many-layered, shell-like temple, with its multiple interlocking semi-domes and buttressed arches, stood as the highest point of the spire that contained the temple at its apex. It had since been eclipsed by other spires, of course, such is the way of all architecture, but even so, it gave the site a sense of grandeur, and connection to the sky, from which Athame had descended, and to which She had returned.
Benezia watched with rapt attention as the dragoness continue to pace around, observe and assess certain points of the interior with approval. "T-Then... there is still a chance?"
Even as the priestess shot her a questioning look, the dragon paused, gazing across the altar into Benezia's eyes. After a long, pregnant pause, her lips parted in a slow smile.
"A good one." Glowing red-gold eyes turned towards the priestess. "But the site will require some...preparation."
The priestess now turned her attention back to Benezia. "What preparations is she speaking of concocting in the Grand Temple, Matriarch T'Soni? What is she really here for?"
Joru's eyes flicked to Benezia, and one dark brow raised, as if to ask 'will you tell her, or should I?'
The older matriarch took a steadying breath, and for the first time, met Jan'shiri's eyes directly. "Jorukaiazahnivahkyss has done more than a month's research, using every available resource and..."
Her voice broke and she looked away, gazing almost hungrily at the tall darastrix, standing in austere regalness next to the altar. "Sh-She's promised to try to bring my daughter back..."
The priestess stared blankly. "... I beg your pardon, Matriarch T'Soni, I must have misheard you."
"I understand that it's difficult to believe." The matriarch paced slowly towards the altar, where Jorukaia was examining the stone's edge. "We're taught that she's gone to her final resting place, but Jorukaia herself has returned from death more than once."
She continued at the horned woman's absent nod. "And what mother wouldn't leap at the chance to have her d-daughter back?"
"That is what worries me, Benezia." Jan'shiri turned to give Matriarch Benezia T'Soni a frank and forward stare, carefully using her first name informally. "I have consoled a thousand mothers who have lost their children. A bond with our mothers is surpassed only by the bond with our daughters. For a child of Thessia's long life to be stolen too soon, it is a devastating loss. And in the wake of such grief, it can cause even the wisest of us to turn to desperate, fruitless and even undignified acts."
She sighed, taking Benezia's hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Matriarch, I do not know what promises this outsider has made that has seized you with desperate false hope, but you should know very well that there is nothing that can restore the departed, nor should we even try to prevent any soul from returning to Athame for they were never ours to begin with."
"I do not take kindly to being maligned, High Priestess." The outsider's voice broke in, as the flame-eyed woman gave her a long, searching stare. "However, in light of your ignorance, I shall restrain myself. Suffice it to say, Liara is not with Athame. She is here. Now. In this very chamber. Your eyes may not see her, your ears may not hear her, but she is very much present, and desires to return to her mother's side, as fiercely as her mother wishes her to return. That and that alone is why I have spent a month researching ways, means, and methods of restoring the dead to life, for without Liara's consent, nothing short of Athame Herself could return her to this side of the Veil."
The priestess sharply turned to the dragoness. "You accuse me of ignorance, within the halls of the Grand Temple of Athame, without realizing that the ability to make such claims of ignorance is not exclusive to any one individual? When by all sacred rights and purposes I am more to entitled to say the same of you? I will not judge your people's culture nor hold it in contempt, but there is nothing that can resurrect the dead, regardless of whatever a single month of your apparent research may lead you to believe. I do not know what or how you plan to make such attempts, but I cannot approve of a daughter of Thessia's remains being desecrated by whatever means you intend in the Grand Temple of Athame. Part of our life is understanding that death will claim the lives of others and even eventually ourselves. Our people understand this, and we learn to move on. Please... do not aggravate and bring more pain to a lifelong loss through misguided hope. Let her be at rest, to find peace in the embrace of the Goddess."
Joru's jaw clenched, but she gave a faint nod. Before she could speak, however, a blast of icy wind slammed down through the occulus and blew the Priestess's robes tightly around her. Despite her proximity, Benezia was untouched by the sudden wind, and a crackling sound drew all attention to the altar. A rime of frost was spreading over the stone slab, crackling with the speed of its condensation.
A moment later, the wind stopped but the frost continued to grow. No one moved.
"What is this?" Jan'shiri was careful but tentative in voicing her thought.
"Liara, if you would?" Jorukaia's eyes had changed. While before they glowed with a furnace-glare, now, their light had banked to dull, sullen embers, but the color had changed from red-gold, to deep, ethereal blue. She was staring at something unseen off to one side, as she gave a slight nod.
"You know how, Liara, I taught you that much." She gave a faint smile and nodded, her gaze swinging around to the altar, as she backed a pace away.
A swirl of icy wind swept above the altar, growing faster and colder, and...something was there. Gleaming, visible only faintly. A shimmer that was only half-seen, a presence that was felt, an image, no more.
A ghost.
Benezia's breath caught and her eyes went wide, a hand resting on the Priestess's shoulder and clutching tightly at her friend. It was a shimmering outline, hinted and suggested, no more. But it was unmistakably an asari. Floating above the frost-coated altar, as if the very act of standing was beneath her, features both regal and serene, but marred with deep pain and suffering.
Not to mention the hollow pits, where her eyes once were.
Her mouth opened, soft gleams of teeth visible, but for a moment no sound reached their straining ears. Aethyta's jaw had dropped, but Joru seemed almost amused, and gave a 'hurry up' gesture to the floating asari.
The voice, when it did come, was ethereal, unnerving with a flatness to it as if somehow both distant and nearby. "I am here, Mother. Please, let us not waste any more time."
The High Priestess stared with wide eyes at the specter before turning to the statue of Athame. She bowed her head and held her hands together, praying for comfort for the tortured soul.
"So, priestess" Jorukaia's voice held a smug note as her eyes flickered back from blue to red-gold. "Do you believe?"
Jan'shiri was quiet for a long time, weighing the significance of what she had just witnessed. And then after what seemed like an hour, she answered with a new understanding.
"The return of the Geth Collective, the Batarians baring their true colors, a new race bringing forth unprecedented knowledge and happenings... The Matriarchs have watched this galaxy for a long time. They know its patterns and its rhythms; they know that this is the calm before a great storm." She turned towards Jorukaia. "And now this. If Athame truly wishes for one of her daughters to be returned to Thessia, then it portends truly dark and turbulent times."
She turned back towards Benezia, who's eyes were shining with delight. "To be sent back in the midst of such brewing chaos, it can only mean she has a vital role to play. That Liara T'Soni must have a great task, a destiny to fulfill. Very well then. Do what must be done. So let it be written, so let it be done."
The older matriarch hugged her tightly, as the darastrix gave a solemn nod. "Then let it begin."
"Godddddddd, I'm going to enjoy getting CLEAN."
Jack gave a smirk, watching the thief shuffle through the doorway, the giant hanging circle of dark metal that was Joru's "back door" hanging impossibly in midair.
It had taken Joru a few days to find time to enchant it, but now, Jack tugged on the sturdy chain attached to its center, dragging the multi-ton door back into its socket, and throwing the locking wheel. A series of several shark clanks were heard as Kasumi panted with her hands on her knees for a bit.
"Rough trip?" Jack turned to the hooded girl, who shot her a glare.
She was drenched, spotted with pieces of chitin, and other less identifiable bits. She gave a groan, stood, stretched her back a little, then sighed, staring down at herself. "I'm going to need a new suit. Again."
"Well, maybe if you didn't go bothering the locals, you wouldn't have to keep washing them off?" Jack's grin at Kasumi's death-glare only widened. "C'mon, let's get you a hot meal, and a soak, and then we'll see about that new suit."
Kasumi groaned as Jack lead the way back through the secret door into Joru's public kitchen. "You won't find anyone better at avoiding local security than yours truly. But your dominatrix girlfriend should let me know when the locals are giant insects and spiders straight out of nightmare! Know what the phobia for giant man-eating arachnids bigger than a shuttlecraft is called? Common sense!"
Jack burst out laughing as she stepped into the kitchen, startling the quarian who was seated at the table. The biotic turned to smirk at the grime-bespattered woman as Kasumi peeled a glove off to scrub at her face. "Awww, poor baby, couldn't handle Joru's pet thresher maws?"
Jack turned away, missing the death-stare from the petite asian woman, opening the pantry to disclose two bowls of steaming-hot ramen. No matter how many times she used Joru's magic pantries, she always found it amazing.
After her uplifting conversation with Auntie Raan, Tali had been enjoying the rare pleasure of getting to eat a quarian delicacy without wearing her mask. Now she was quietly freaking at the state of her friend's tattered outfit "Kasumi! I told you there were fierce creatures down there! I thought you of all people knew how to keep their distance!"
"Believe me imouto-chan, I've tried!" The petite human flumped sorrowfully into a chair, and surveyed her arms, while Jack set a bowl of ramen in front of her.
"Fill your stomach a bit before it goes cold." Jack smirked at the thief as she sat across from quarian and thief, and began savoring her own bowl much slower than Kasumi's urgent slurps.
"After that last stunt I had to pull? You bet." Kasumi hummed as she savored the taste. "Mmmmm... magically prepared ramen is good ramen. Though not quite as good as my grandmother's Secret Ingredient Ramen. She actually knows the secret ingredient."
Jack's eyes were glittering at her behind a mouthful of noodles. She chewed of a mouthful before leaning back, finishing her bite before chasing it with a sip of juice. She poured Kasumi a cup as well, smirking at the petite woman's nod of thanks. "In Joru's case, the secret ingredient is probably outright magic."
Tali went still and stared wide-eyed at her friend. Oh no. She knew what was about to happen.
Something in the atmosphere changed. With a speed to rival EDI, Kasumi's hand grabbed the biotic's wrist in an iron grasp. Jack glanced sharply at the Japanese thief, only for her face to turn pale as she was met with the blazing eyes of a creature more dangerous than anything in Joru's backyard.
"Trying to match good ramen... with magic? I DON'T THINK SO!"
"WOAH!"
With a sudden strength that belied her petite, slender frame, Kasumi abruptly hoisted Jack out of her chair and glared into her face, eye to eye. Jack was before a Judge of Hell, and suddenly knew she was amongst the damned.
"Let me tell you something about ramen." Kasumi's voice was deceptively sweet and calm. "The key to its rich flavor is in the broth. A lighter soup can easily be ruined if you even slightly muddle the flavors. Such delicious soup is based on the stock, a concentrated kaeshi sauce and various infused oils and spices. They all have to harmonize with each other or you end up with conflicting flavors that ruin the delicately constructed balance. To use kozuyu as a base, finished with adding paitan soup and a soy sauce mix which can only be achieved by stirring it for a full hour! In which the kaeshi sauce employs a mix of light soy sauce and white soy sauce to make a pronounced sweetness, and then drying the vegetable shitake mushrooms and burdock roots for two hours to concentrate the umami and dissolve it into the broth! And what about combining proper Aizu chicken meat with thinly sliced scallions combined with plums that are just a touch too ripe to tighten the acidity?"
Kasumi brought a helpless Jack closer until their noses were almost touching. "None of those stretched out preparations are something you can replicate just by poofing the food into existence!"
Towards the end of her rant, Kasumi noticed that Jack wasn't staring at her anymore, but over her shoulder. Something nudged her again, and she turned, to see a floating bunch of mushrooms dancing attendance on her approval. The scent brought back memories long forgotten, and she had a momentary flash of homesickness as the dried mushrooms and roots awaited her approval.
And just like that, Kasumi was back to normal. "Awwwww, this kitchen says the nicest things. Alright, go on ahead. See if you can impress me with real ramen."
The result was an explosion of activity as dozens of ingredients popped out of hiding places, the Everful Larder opened again to disclose fresh eggs and other ingredients, which began orbiting the room in a complex dance, while utensils, pots and pans, and a small stoneware cauldron set itself over the hearth-fire, which suddenly blazed into renewed heat. Water arced from the basin to the soup-pot in long streamers as other ingredients began to be chopped, shredded, diced, and measured.
Kasumi giggled at the sight as she casually released the still shaken Jack and patted her on the head. "Really amazing things happen in this place, huh?"
"It's certainly nothing less than incredible," Tali agreed, still chuckling at the bewildered look Jack was giving the thief. "I feel I could spend five years in here and still not find all its treasures!"
"I can only imagine." Kasumi nodded in earnest. With that, she turned around and sauntered off. "Now, I need to take a soak and get myself clean of all this gobbly-goop. You can join me if you want, imouto-chan!"
"Right behind you!" Tali finished the last of her meal. But as she stood up to follow Kasumi, she found the young woman staring at her with a hint of awe.
"Tali?" Kasumi was staring at her in a way that Tali wasn't sure she liked. "You have your entire hood down..."
"Um, yes?" The quarian gave a shy blink, which made Kasumi smile.
"You have gorgeous hair!" The quarian's rich, blue-black hair was pulled straight back, sleek and almost shimmering in the light. It was only a rough bob cut, but Kasumi could see potential.
Tali gave a soft, shy tuck of her head, her wide, luminescent eyes blinking softly at the compliment.
"Hey, yeah." Jack gave a grin, finishing another mouthful of the magically-slandered ramen. "You've got quite the locks, pretty girl."
The quarian gave a shy little squeak at the humans' regard, making Jack laugh softly and take another bite of ramen.
"You're hiding looks like that away from the world, and they call us criminals?" Kasumi shook her head. "Suddenly, magic doesn't seem as bizarre. You gotta stop surprising me with new levels of cuteness Tali, you're a walking WMD of the stuff."
The quarian shot Jack a confused look, but the biotic was busy giggling into her ramen, and trying not to choke. "Ummmm..."
"I am so putting a rush order on that swimsuit. What do you think, Jack? Needs to happen?"
"Oh definitely." Great, now both of them were against her. "Better ask Joru for a beating-stick, though, only she'd have something strong enough to beat off the hounds coming after that fine ass."
At Tali's stuttery squawk, Jack snickered. "Don't think I haven't noticed your rump, Tali. You're stacked in all the right places."
Tali quickly covered her posterior with her hands and turned it away from Jack, her cheeks blushing bright as she backed away. "Y-You're terrible."
Jack merely gave a soft snicker, and shot Kasumi a glance. "Go get cleaned up. No doubt the kitchen will have something more to your taste by the time you get back."
She stirred her ramen. "I'll finish this up, then go see if Wrex is still camped out in the gym. Maybe he'll want a friendly spar."
"Have fun, you psychotic biotic!" Kasumi called back as she took Tali by the hand. "Now before we get to work on your suit Tali, we need to clean out mine. I could use your help."
The young quarian gave a shy nod, taking a breath and blinking soft agreement as she followed the suited human out of the kitchen.
Tali had blinked in surprise as Kasumi closed the door in her face, before she remembered human nudity taboos and blushed almost grape-purple. Waiting for her friend to finish exiting her suit, she found herself unconsciously checking and rechecking her own suit integrity, even though she had her helmet entirely off. Bare from the neck up.
Suit integrity compromised to hell and gone. She was strangely OK with that.
The young quarian had been hiding from the press in Joru's Refuge, at the dragoness's permission, of course. Everyone wanted to see her, it seemed, and seeing how overwhelmed she was getting, Joru had offered to let her stay in the Refuge as long as she wished. As long as she didn't mind occasional relocations to other planets and stations, that was.
Tali hadn't, it ment she got to travel without the hassle of dealing with scummy pilots and tramp freighters.
"Ahhhhh... that hits the spot." Kasumi's voice was a bit muffled by the door. "Alright, you're free to come in!"
The bathroom was, by quarian standards, both spacious, and luxurious to a ludicrous degree. A wooden-slatted, canvas-covered privacy screen was set up around one end, around the bathtub, and little wafts of steam leaked around its edge. Tali could just make out the silhouette of someone in the tub through the screen, but no other details. The rest of the room was paneled in simple wood, but by Quarian standards, that was an unimaginable luxury. The commode was a simple set of boards with a hole through them over a chamber-pot, the brass of the pot nicely polished.
Kasumi's suit was hung up over a towel-rack near the stone sink, and Tali went directly to it, fingering a small, but visible rent in the suit's left side. "What were you fighting out there, and why didn't you run away?"
"A lot of centipedes that wanted to give me a hug. And a few giant spiders too. At least there weren't any rats."
"S-S-Spiders?" Tali trembled a little, taking the suit down and sitting with a thump on the commode.
"Oh, sorry! I forgot you don't like those little crawlies...but don't worry, I made sure there aren't any in my suit."
"S-Sure...I believe you completely!" Tali still discretely spritzed the inside of the suit with a little bottle she pulled from one of her multiplicity of suit-pockets. "But I'm still having trouble believing this, Kasumi. I told you what happened to me in there and I have no intention of ever going back. So why is it so important for you to go in there willingly?"
"Have you ever had a dream, Tali? Something you always secretly wanted, but never knew was possible?" The figure in the bath lifted one leg, shadowy hands rubbing along it, before Kasumi gave a hiss and rubbed carefully at a spot on her shin.
Tali paused in patching one of the minor tears in her friend's suit. "Ummm... I've certainly had a few of those."
She had always wanted to make her father proud and to do right by the fleet. But there were other things as well. She had always wondered, even yearned, what life would be like without needing her suit. But she had long since accepted her weak immune system as an immutable part of life, just like for every quarian. As she glanced at her suited hand, thinking of the ring inside, Tali remembered how she never knew how much she really wanted it until Joru literally gave it to her.
"For me, it was being a cat-girl." Kasumi's voice was low, almost secretive, as if sharing a girlish treasure with her friend. She'd even leaned closer to the privacy screen, the water sloshing a little int he tub. "Ever since I was a little girl..."
"Go on." Tali reassured as she tweaked more of the gear in Kasumi's suit, fiddling with a slit-patch to get it lined up straight. "What makes it so special to you?"
"Oof, that's going to take me back a ways..." Water was the only sound for a while, before Kasumi finally continued. "Back in the middle of Earth's 20th century, there was a war. it raged across most of the planet, and isn't really important. What's important is that the stick-up-the-asses in charge of one particular nation had been smacked down enough until they were face-down on the floor, and had that stick ripped clean out of their collective rump."
More water-stirring sounds and Kasumi sat up. Tali blushed and looked away as she saw the shadow of the human woman's upper chest in profile. "After that, things changed, drastically. Their culture underwent a drastic and rapid evolution, and over the next half-century, they went from being the premiere military power in that part of the world, to being forbidden from having a military, and one of the technological and economic powerhouses of the world."
"Errrr... what does this have to do with getting feline attributes?"
"I was just coming to that." Kasumi giggled a bit. "Japan had a thriving culture that was, by many people's standards, bizarre. Among many other frankly weird and strange things, there was a growing popularity for girls with cat-ears and cat-tails and catlike mannerisms that, like much of Japan's culture, was appreciated by most of the world. Compared to some of the things going on back then, catgirls were one of the cutest and least-insane things."
The privacy screen rattled a little as Kasumi stood up, her profile sleek and fit. The water in the tub drained away with a gurgle as the human started up the shower again, giving a long, appreciative sigh. "Ever since I was a tiny little girl, I always wanted to be nekomimi. Kitsune would have been nice, but neko-neko was my delight. I had a pretty-kitty plushie when I was a tot, and a sexy-kitty bodypillow when I got older..."
"B-B-Bodypillow?" Tali sputtered. She had no idea what that was, or why the name made her flustered.
"Ohhh, yeah." Kasumi sounded amused, but also nostalgic. "Keta-kame, Queen of the Panthers. My favorite character from my favorite show, growing up. I must have had that thing for...goodness, almost twenty years? I honestly don't remember what happened to it, I think it might still be in storage, back on Earth..."
"And what else?" Tali's long, agile fingers found the largest rent in her friend's suit, studiously focusing on that instead of the outline of the woman's shadow.
"Well, cats are associated with stealth on Earth. 'With catlike tread' means 'silently', after all." Kasumi gave a soft giggle. "And cat-burglars are those that, well, do what I do, sneak into places and retrieve valuables without anyone the wiser. So you could say my childhood dream to be a catgirl influenced my choice of career."
Tali chuckled in turn. "Well, I can see why it would mean so much to you. At least, I think I do. And Joru says she can make this happen?"
"No." The half-seen figure slumped, sighing under the stream of warm water. "It's beyond even her power."
The quarian shot the silhouette a confused look. "... okay, now I'm lost."
"It's beyond Joru's power. But! She pointed me in the direction of something that should be able to turn me into a catgirl!" Kasumi straightened, and the sounds of water died away. "There's a spot, deep down at the bottom of this, what did she call it, demiplane? Anyway, this thing is a sphere, nineteen kilometers across. Down at the very bottom, so deeper than the deepest cave system on my home planet, is a point that Joru called "the Well of Infinity. Supposedly, it's a spot outside the usual confines of the universe, and... And if I submerge myself in it, I can reshape myself to my idealized form..."
After what she saw in Joru's demiplane, Tali was able to keep her scientific mind from overloading at the implications of such a place that rewrites a person's shape of existence Just accept it and move on...
"And then?" She glanced towards the figure, then away again. "What do you imagine being a catgirl will be like?"
"Honestly, I don't know, but I'm eager to find out!" The privacy screen swished aside as Kasumi stepped out of the tub. Tali had to suppress a squeak as she gave her friend a stare.
The human woman was wearing...not much. Just her hood, in imitation of a quarian, and two tiny scraps of cloth, one between her legs, the other in two triangles over her upper torso. Kasumi gave her a grin and raised the first two fingers of one hand, resting the other on her cocked hip. "Kawaii!"
"EEEEEEEE!" Tali jumped back, fumbling the bodysuit up between the pair of them like a shield. "K-K-Kasumi! I, er, I...what are you doing? W-What is that?"
"Bikini! Like?" The human gave an amused pirouette, then had to catch the hood as it nearly fell off. "Whoop! I guess these things aren't meant for single-wear, huh?"
Tali blinked several times and fidgeted as she tried to recompose herself. She was not successful as her blush only ripened. Thank the ancestors her visor kept her face covered.
Wait... She wasn't wearing her visor.
And Kasumi was giving her a widening grin as she leaned in close. "Why thank you, Tali, I think you're gorgeous too~!"
"Kasumi, what are you doing and why?" Tali took a step back, swallowing and struggling to get her cheeks to stop blushing so hard.
The human leaned back herself, resting her hands on her hips and giving a soft giggle. "Because you're adorable. And you need to loosen up a bit. Live a little, experience life, take a chance."
She offered her hands to Tali, gently taking the suit from her and setting it aside. "C'mon. Remember how we met?"
Despite her ripe purple blush, Tali felt herself smile. "On the Citadel, at a little restaurant. I had just gotten the ring and so I wanted to taste some food without my mask for once."
"Yup!" The nearly-naked woman gave a giggle and hugged her. Hugged her, tight enough to be felt even through the suit. "At the time, I was scared you'd die, catching something from taking your mask off!"
She pulled back far enough to give Tali a brilliant smile, her eyes glittering under her hood. "I was wrong to seal you back up. But I didn't know how lucky you were at the time."
"Now?" She pulled back until she was only holding Tali's hands, grinning like a fool. "Now, I want to share good times, make happy memories, and help you explore life as best you can."
"Kasumi, that...that means a lot to me." Tali smiled. It was shy, but radiant. "You're without a doubt the best friend I've made outside the fleet."
The smile she got in return was cheeky and impish. "Well, looks like I've got to step up my game, then, if I want to be your bestest friend ever."
"And yet you want me to wear one of these... outfits?" The quarian blushed a deeper purple as she gestured to Kasumi's...near-lack of outfit.
"Well, maybe not at first~" The human almost purred as she arched and stretched up on her toes. "But I have to see if you're as gorgeous inside that suit as I think you are..."
Tali stared uncomprehendingly at her.
Jorukaia ignored the twittering of the three matriarchs. Her mind had to be clear, focused, honed to a razor's edge. She felt the blade in its sheath, buckled to her left thigh, as she removed the small tetrahedral icon from the pocket of her robe.
Her eyes mapped the exact center of the altar, above which Liara hung suspended by the ethereal wind around her. The ghost moved aside as she approached, the only one attentive to her actions, as both Benezia and Aethyta talked with the priestess. Only Benezia was required for this ceremony, but Aethyta had insisted, and so she had come. The priestess could be a complication, she had not been instructed as to her place in the Circle.
Speaking of which, Joru adjusted the position of the small, rune-encrusted device, no larger than the palm of her hand, to better angle it in line with the planet's angle of rotation before slamming the palm of her left hand down atop its uppermost vertex.
A slight hiss of pain escaped her lips as the tip bit into her palm, before the whole icon crumbled, smashed flat by the dragon's strength into the upper surface of the altar.
A brilliant flash of citrine light flared between palm and altar, running in lines of fire over the altar's upper surface, finding its edges and corners, and flowing down over it like a deluge of water. It changed color as it met the floor, racing along pre-mapped angles and curves, turning emerald, ruby, and sapphire as it sped outwards to a distance of nearly four meters, forming a fantastic intricate design. As the last loops closed and the outer ring of the Magic Circle was completed, the final runes emplaced, the whole circle shifted from multicolored brilliance to a blinding white, before going out as if a switch had been cut.
In its wake, it left the perfectly etched, engraved, enameled and inlayed Circle that Jorukaia had designed over the past two weeks. It had taken painstaking research to determine the best Circle to use for this rite, and knowing the need for an altar, she had incorporated that too into the design. Actually enchanting the runic inscriber had been the work of an entire day, but at least it made inscribing the main circle itself vastly less complicated.
"...That was a nine-millennium-old, priceless cultural treasure!" The priestess choked back a sob under her breath, and Benezia rubbed her back in sympathy.
Joru ignored her, reaching once more into the other pocket of her robe, removing the large bowl. It was shallow, formed of purest diamond, and almost half a meter wide, as she set it in the exact center of the altar and took her place in the Master's Circle of the Great Circle.
"Now is the time of tears. Now is the time of grief." Her voice took on an intonation that the others had not heard before. "But it is also a time of celebration, for the veil draws thin, and those who have passed and yet remain, are given their due."
"Did you know she could speak High Thessian?" Joru suppressed her smirk at Aethyta's hissed comment.
The hour had come, the ritual would begin.
Benezia knelt in the circle Jorukaia had indicated, a small cushion under her knees. This was the Mother's Circle, part of the greater Circle that now ran over almost half the floor of the vast cathedral. Aethyta knelt too, in a circle a few paces away, the Father's Circle. High Priestess Jan'shiri knelt in another, lesser circle, gazing with wide wonder at the ever-shifting, glowing runes of the circle around her, and which lead inwards to the circle surrounding the altar.
And the smaller circle within it, where Joru now knelt.
Her sibilant soft speech had been going on for nearly ten minutes by now, each word causing some part of the Great Circle to flare, change, or ripple. Power was being gathered here, of a sort she had never seen.
Benezia felt her old heart beating more strongly, and panted with anticipation.
The ghost of her daughter had faded soon after speaking to the Priestess, denying her converse with her daughter who had passed over. She understood that Liara was still very weak, and only barely clinging to this world, but she had so wanted to speak with, even touch her daughter, no matter the danger to herself.
Soon, though, if all went as planned...
Her heart went out to Jorukaia, and to her daughter, an old, old prayer she had learned as a little girl coming unbidden to her lips. A prayer for blessing and benevolence from the Goddess.
'May your hands be swift, your mind clear, your heart true.'
Jan'shiri was a theologian of long standing. The countless religions of Thessia had coalesced into the general worship of Athame many, many asari lifetimes ago, but each retained their own distinctive patterns. When asari met salarians aboard the Citadel, their own religions were among the many that were studied and exchanged. As more and more species were discovered and brought into the fold, new and more strange teachings were encountered, debated over, analyzed, and preserved.
But never had she run across so elaborate and clearly scientific beliefs as these.
Jorukaiazahnivahkyss had, by some unknown means, drawn this vast circle, filled with precious metals, shaped gemstones, and other precious materials in a vast array of runic lines and curves. Intricate and complex it seemed on the surface, but from her vantage point amidst the Circle itself, she saw that what she had at first taken for simple lines and geometric curves, were themselves made of smaller circles, lines, and runes. She suspected the fractal nature of the Circle extended down even further, and were she to examine the fine detail of the circle in which she sat, she would find it itself a miniature circle similar to the large Great Circle.
She looked up as Jorukaia's voice changed subtly in tambre and intonation. The final words of the ritual were beginning.
The crystal bowl glittered in the eldritch light of the Circle as her adamant will kept the ritual going. Were she capable of sweating from the effort, she would be drenched in it. As it was, all the immense mental effort, pushing against the weight of cultural and metaphysical inertia, was only betrayed by a slight trembling in her upraised arms, and in her long tail, coiled precisely about her knees.
Her voice rang through the vast hall, eyes upturned to the occulus, through which the moon was just beginning to peek. When it reached zenith, would be the time.
She could feel the veil between living and dead beginning to thin here, in this place of ancient belief. Here, more than anywhere, the veil was naturally thin, as tens of thousands of years and hundreds of thousands of believers had made it so.
Now, with her more refined senses, and her greater will, she intended to puncture the veil when it was at its weakest.
This was not without danger. The greater power of the Circle was dedicated to keeping out that which was not summoned. Things lived in the interstices between the realms of the living and the realms of the dead, things which would devour and destroy, given the chance.
She would deny them.
The spirit she wished to recall was already here, so the Circle would hedge out any and all such minor demons. Even so, she could feel them scratching as the shield repulsed them. Minor pests as yet, but as the veil thinned they would grow stronger.
Already she felt the presence of the greater ones, on the periphery of her senses.
The final seconds ticked past, precise and inevitable as the syllables she had memorized. Her memory was near-perfect, and had it not been, her internal headware commlink would have provided the precise data she needed.
It was time. Her voice rose to a full-throated incantation, as the final words were spoken, not in Thessian, but in High Draconic, as the veil thinned suddenly and she readied herself for the final sacrifice.
Aethyta's soul cried out within her. Her love had had her heart torn out by Liara's loss, and her every fiber screamed for vengeance Tears stung her eyes at the look of wild, naked longing in Benezia's as she watched the near-naked dragoness intoning the final words of the ritual. She followed most of the words, though their structure and phrasing was archaic, bordering on nigh-incomprehensible.
Now, though, Joru switched to some hissing, guttural language that sent a bolt of fear through her. She had no idea what was speaking now, but for the first time since she'd seen Jona Siberys swell into Jorukaia, she had the impression of something both ancient, and impossibly powerful.
The hissed words rang out within the cathedral, the floating eldritch lights starting to dance and whirl as if blown about by the thunder of the voice.
[Stolen life, new rebirth]
[Raise up this daughter consumed by the earth]
[Burdened down, 'neath the sky]
[Laden with monstrous power inside]
[Sacrificed; Now undone]
[For your story has only begun!]
[Never break, only bend;]
[Quench this dragon's desire]
[And Be Thou Liara Again!]
And with the final word, that of her daughter's name, Aethyta's breath caught, seeing the glittering dagger descend with impossible speed.
Plunged directly into the dragoness's exposed chest.
The pain was immeasurable. It recalled the spear thrust through her chest, when she had died the first time. Still, she was older now, more centered. She clung to the ritual, to ground herself. She had a job to do, and by all the Gods that ever were, and all the Gods that never were, she would see it through.
For Benezia. For Aethyta. For Liara.
The dagger, now coated with her blood, a red so dark it was nearly black, was pulled violently from within her. Her heart still beat, the power of the ritual and the deep wound through it sending it into a frenzy. Blood spurted from ruptured heart, arcing and splattering into the diamond-glass bowl, filling it and coating the egg-sized diamonds and powdered eezo held within.
With her strength rapidly draining, Joru had to move fast.
The dagger was brought down with both hands, slamming not into her own bloody chest this time, but directly into the center of the altar, where the offering bowl resided.
As the tip touched the surface of the black blood within the bowl, the liquid began to quicken and warm, glowing from within. The gemstones inside it began to shine, and by the time the adamantine dagger slammed through the diamond-glass bowl and deep into the stone of the altar itself, all was blinding white.
It was all she could do to cling to consciousness now. The pain in her chest intensified, as silvery lightning linked dragon's heart, to dragon's blood.
Alvita was walking with her friend along the promenade in one of Serrice's flowing pedestrian archways. She and Janice were enjoying the Thessian nightlife, and it was her human companion's first visit to the asari homeworld.
They had finished eating not too long ago, some pastries from a vendor along the promenade. Now, Janice leaned against the railing and smiled out at the gossamer-silver light of the asari capital city as Alvita slid an arm around her waist. "Gorgeous, isn't it?"
"Yeah..." The two sighed softly as they cuddled and just enjoyed the sight.
A flare of light caught Janice's eye and she turned slightly. "Hey, what's that?"
Alvita frowned slightly, looking at one of the smaller towers, visible between two larger ones in the distance. "I think that... Yeah. That's the temple of Athame. Huh, I didn't know they did services this late at night?"
Ad the pair watched, the silvery light at the temple's highest tower suddenly became brilliant. A spear of silver fire shot skyward, like a beacon burning brightly. The thin clouds overhead, which hadn't obscured the stars suddenly became opaque as the blossoming radiance turned them all to silver fire.
"OH GODDESS!" Alvita's shout was instinctive. Had it been some sort of attack?! Who would dare do such a thing?! And in such a sacred place!
There was no thunderclap, no shockwave, however, merely the intolerably bright radiance from the Temple itself, and the spear of silver light beaming up towards the Moon.
"Oh...My...God... Alvie, look!" Janice's hand shot towards the temple, no not the temple itself, but above it.
Where a vast, VAST, winged shape was being slowly illuminated.
A huge monstrous head, easily the size of a building. Eyes larger than shuttlecraft glowed with silver fire. The huge, curving neck glittering like myriad stars where the silver light touched it. The huge body, coming to rest along the length of the Temple-Spire. The tail vanishing into dim darkness in the lower levels, but wrapping slowly around the entire Spire.
Ant the vast wings that seemed to arc across the horizon.
"Goddess above..." Alvita's breath was nearly gone, torn away by the sight. Janice was speechless herself.
The creature, for no hologram could ever be so vast, gazed down at the top of the Temple Spire, it's vast jaws opening as it moved into position, capturing the surge of skyward light, collecting it, and, with a gentle effort, returning it from whence it came.
The light within the temple flared to unbearable brightness, and both asari and human had to look away then.
For an impossible instant, Alvita could see the bones through her upraised arm, illuminated by that silver radiance.
Then both it, and the impossible creature, were gone, and the night returned to its former dark splendor.
She and her human companion looked at each other. There had been no loud sounds, only light. But they were still ten kilometers from the Temple.
Her very soul was afire. Jorukaia could feel parts of her being ripped away by the savage force of the ritual, now completed and set in motion. Like a juggernaut, it would roll where it would and crush all before it. Just as she had designed it to do.
Even so, the pain was indescribable.
Blood, her blood, had fountained from the shattered bowl, pulverized diamonds and dust-form eezo spun into a blue-black liquid that shot outwards and began its grizzly work.
Blood vessels formed to contain the blood. Flesh began to grow, organs and bones.
Was this how she had looked, when she had first arrived on Earth, in the world of Shadows?
Nerves and sinews, tendons and muscles. Each in their proper place, as skin began to grow over all. The neck calcifying out of solidified magic, brain reconstituted from dead and living memory.
The draining feeling was getting stronger, as the silver arc between her chest and that of the body taking shape upon the altar grew ever stronger.
Eyes and jawbone took shape, as skin ran up the throat and caressed the bared cheeks, flowed over the face and scalp.
And even as she heard the ethereal scream of Liara's Ghost being gripped by the ritual, even as she felt her heart give out, she felt the world tear around her.
Darkness. Emptiness. And beneath, a ribbon of golden light.
Timelessness. Aeons and Eternities, held between the ticks of the cosmic clock.
[REBUKE.]
She had tampered with the laws of reality, meddled with powers she didn't understand, and must now pay the price.
[ADMONITION.]
She would never be able to do this again. Her act had changed the Laws, and this loophole had been closed.
Joru accepted that.
[RETURN.]
She was blasted back into her body, which took a a deep, shuddering breath. How long had she been away? How long had her heart stopped beating?
Another breath, the aching in her chest less painful now. A third.
Another set of lungs gave a long, deep gasp. Joru looked down, and smiled.
The asari upon the altar was slender, shapely. Nude. Joru didn't care. The face was familiar, though the eyes were shut.
"Liara..." Her voice was slightly deeper than she was used to, but she would grow to accept that. She had no choice in the matter.
"L-Liara?" Benezia's voice echoed her soft whisper.
The young woman stirred, her eyes opened. Soft, pale blue, as the rest of her. Beautiful, in her own, youthful way. The eyes focused, found Joru gazing down at her. "Mother..?"
The voice was weak, soft, uncertain. Joru shook her head, and wordlessly turned towards Benezia.
Liara lifted herself slightly, and Benezia's joyous scream heralded the woman throwing herself across the altar to cradle and cling to her daughter, many happy inarticulate gasps and sobs as her Mother clung tightly to her restored daughter.
Aethyta was right behind her, pushing Joru out of the way to cling to Liara herself, tears of gratitude standing in her eyes as Jorukaia smiled at the reunion.
"By Athame and all her Heralds..." High Priestess Jan'shiri whispered reverently, her hands pressed together. "A Daughter of Thessia returned home... a miracle among miracles, in these very halls..."
Joru turned, giving the still-kneeling asari a long, slow glance. "You are in the presence of a miracle. Not by my hand, but by that of the Gods, has Liara been restored. If you wish, you may spread the word. But know this, and know it for the absolute truth; This is a door that once opened, will lie forever shut. That which you would call Athame has decreed as such. Liara is the first, and shall be the last, to ever take such a road. So said the entity that dwells upon the far side of Eternity."
She rose, feeling strength and vitality ebb from her as she did, but it was the appearance of the thing that mattered. She touched her chest, where the old scar and wound showed where her sacrifice had been taken. Her scales were heavier now, but her heart beat just as strong. She felt... Calmer. More focused. Less distracted as the two Matriarchs cuddled and clung to their returned daughter.
She felt at once more powerful than she had been, and somehow diminished. As if a part of her was gone forever.
But as she looked at the overjoyed family, she knew it was more than worth it.